Broken Boston - The Real Sole Survivor
by XxKonspiracyxX
Summary: (AU) The Commonwealth falls into the hands of an unwitting child just by chance, the sole survivor - but this isn't the sole survivor you're thinking of. Raised by Codsworth and completely unaware of the dangers of the Institute or Brotherhood, our lone survivor embarks on a journey to find herself, but ends up with much more on her plate than she bargained for.
1. The End's Beginning

_2077_

"War never changes..."

"Hon?" Nora stepped out of the house, leaning over her husband, who was sitting on the porch and gazing thoughtfully into an old family portrait of his father.

Nate sighed, turning his gaze onto her. "What's wrong?"

Nora wore a particularly troubled expression, rubbing her round, plump stomach. "I think... I think my water broke."

Nate went pale-faced, shooting to his feet and shoving the picture in his pocket. "O... okay. This is it. This is it... what we've been waiting for. A-all right, honey. Get in the car. Let's go to the hospital."

"Don't ask," Nora said with a pained smile. "Remember... when we get there... don't ask..."

"Don't ask about the baby's gender, I know," Nate agreed. "We both planned to be surprised. We'll name it Shaun if it's a boy... after my father."

"And Nina if it's a girl... after my mom," Nora grinned, her eyes beginning to water. "I... can't believe it's finally..."

"Okay, let's go, come on."

Nate rushed her into the car and started it up, pulling out of the driveway and backing over the curb.

"What about the delivery?" Nora panted from the back seat. "S-someone has to be here to sign for it..."

"I told them to leave the Mr. Handy on the doorstep if we're not here," Nate replied, speeding down the street of Sanctuary Hills. "I told them you're expecting. Don't worry. They're meeting us halfway."

"Oh... good..."

They arrived at the hospital in no time, and after a long ten hours, Nora gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, who had a head of strawberry blonde hair, just like her mother.

* * *

A week after Nina's birth, Nora was home and rested, and Nate was preparing for a meeting at the veteran's hall.

"War never changes..." he uttered, squinting at his reflection in the mirror and wondering if he ought to give himself a clean shave before leaving.

"You're gonna knock 'em dead at the veteran's hall tonight," Nora beamed, leaning into the bathroom and pecking him on the cheek.

Just then, they both heard newborn Nina squealing from her bedroom. Just then, their new Mr. Handy floated down the hallway attentively.

"Oh, dear... sounds like someone made a stinky," the robot said, tending to the baby.

Nora peeked out, watching as the robot gently removed Nina's diaper and cleaned her up.

"You know... I was nervous at first, but I'm glad we got Codsworth," she remarked. "He's a Godsend."

"True," Nate agreed.

The robot, Codsworth, hovered down the hall again and disposed of the full diaper.

After Nate ran his hand over his five o'clock shadow for the tenth time, he and Nora went to the bedroom, smiling and leaning over each side of the crib.

"Who's a good girl?" Nora grinned, Nina's big turquoise eyes shining up at her.

Nate tickled Nina's tiny stomach, making the infant giggle.

"So... if I get home early enough this afternoon, I was thinking we'd go to the park, maybe have a picnic," Nate suggested, smirking at Nora. "Like we used to."

Nora shot him a caustic smile. "Right. Because I totally wanna get pregnant again."

Nate laughed.

The two shared a kiss, then spent a moment simply watching Nina in her crib, kicking gently and sputtering out a few high-pitched noises.

"Sir," Codsworth called from the living room, sounding oddly worried. "Ma'am, you should really come and see this."

"Codsworth?" Nora replied. "What's wrong?"

Nate scooped Nina out of the crib, and they all marched into the living room with a brisk stride. Codsworth pointed at the television.

The news anchor reported that numerous cities have been hit by atomic fire, and after naming the fifth city, he stopped and cradled his head. Nora and Nate traded fearful expressions, and seconds later, the television went to static.

"Shit..." Nate swore.

"Get to the vault," Codsworth requested frantically. "Go!"

Nate and Nora didn't need telling; they raced out of the house without bothering to grab any of their belongings, jogging down the street as Nate held Nina, their hearts now hammering, their wonderful day crushed by fear and dread. The other neighbors were outside as well, many of them either rushing toward the vault on the hillside or trying to drag bags of their belongings out of their houses.

On the hillside was a fence, separating the hysterical civilians from the vault's entrance. Many of them were shouting in protest, as the guards weren't allowing them entrance to the vault. Thankfully, Nate's family military background made them eligible for a spot in the vault months ago; the guards gave them a thumbs up, and they rushed by, hurrying toward the circular metal platform atop the hill.

"What's gonna happen to everyone outside the gate?" Nora panted regretfully, glancing back at the other civilians.

"Try not to think about it," Nate replied grimly, kissing Nina on the forehead as she began to cry. Five of their neighbors stood on the platform beside them, and moments later, the ground abruptly shook beneath their feet.

Many of them screamed; a mushroom cloud reached into the sky in the distance, a blinding light sweeping over the scene.

"Don't look at it!" Nate screamed, remembering what he'd learned during his drills. "Shut your eyes! The light will blind you!"

He doubted anyone could hear him; everyone was yowling in absolute panic now, and the platform began to move downward, painfully slow. The citizens ducked and yelled as the platform took them lower, ash, wind, and fire eating away the surface of the earth above.

After nearly ten minutes of laying, sitting, or hunching on the metal platform, it finally reached the bottom, stopping at the vault's entrance. Nate, Nora, and the other survivors gazed upward for several minutes, still able to hear the screams of those dying above, even long after silence fell.

The only sound now was Nina, crying timidly into her father's chest.

After a few long minutes, the survivors shakily reached their feet, stepping into the vault and being greeted by Vault-Tec representatives.

Nate and Nora exchanged frightened, yet relieved, looks.

"Well... here we are," Nate breathed. "The start of our new life."

"I can't believe..." Nora exhaled. "It was so sudden... so..."

"It's okay, honey. Don't think about it. We're safe. That's what matters."

"I know..."

They followed the instructions given to them, marching down the hallway and entering a room filled with mysterious, human-sized pods.

"Step into the decontamination chambers," a nearby doctor advised. "Then, we'll get you settled into your new homes."

Nora planted a kiss on Nina's cheek, then another on Nate's lips. They stepped into the pods opposite each other, and an automatic door closed behind them, sealing them in. They both expected the process to be quick and easy, but the pods soon filled with cold air, _blisteringly_ cold.

Before they knew it, their bodies went rigid, and Nate and Nora knew no more.

* * *

 _2270_

The vault sat in ruin for almost two hundred years. Dwellers were dead, those in stasis either deceased or missing from their pods. Kellogg and his assistant had no clue what led to the destruction of Vault 111, though neither of them much cared.

"This one," Kellogg said, pointing to the chamber containing Nate. "This is the one."

"It's remarkable that they're still here," the assistant in the hazmat suit responded, pressing a large red button and making the chambers open up. "The Institute was authorized to do this ages ago, right? What changed?"

"Our dear leader changed his mind," Kellogg replied with a grunt of disapproval. "But now... he's on his last limb. He won't be calling the shots for much longer. Now, we can bring real life to the institute. Real, uncorrupted life."

Both Nate's and Nora's chambers opened, as well as all the others. From two of the chambers, a couple of frozen corpses fell out, and the rest were empty or surrounded by skeletons. Nate regained consciousness after a few seconds of coughing, tightening his grasp on Nina and completely unaware that any time had passed.

Nora fell to her knees behind Kellogg and the assistant. She hazily looked upright, fixating her gaze on the strangers and her family.

Nina began to cry, Nate coughing and clinging onto her. The assistant tried to take the baby from him, but he jerked away.

"No... she's my daughter," Nate rasped between coughs. "She's fine... I've got her... I've got her..."

The assistant tried to pry him from the infant, but Nate snapped away from her again.

Kellogg quickly lost his patience. He pulled the 44 from his hip and pressed it to Nate's head.

"Let the kid go," Kellogg ordered. "Now."

"No!" Nate protested.

BANG.

Nora jumped; she tried to scream, but her throat was much too dry. The bullet ripped through Nate's skull, making his arms fall limp. The assistant took the baby into her own arms, turning to leave the vault alongside Kellogg.

"W... wai...!" Nora tried to holler, but she only managed to produce a few light rasps.

Kellogg and his assistant marched out of the room, carrying the crying Nina away.

Suddenly, Nora found the strength of ten, forcing herself to her feet and darting wobbly after them, her head spinning, her limbs feeling like they were made of jelly.

As Kellogg and his assistant stepped on the platform and prepared for their exit, Nora stumbled after them, tripping on a pile of bones and falling hard on the metal catwalk. She glimpsed around, seeing that she'd tripped on a discarded black Pip-Boy, which sat snug around the dead man's arm, looking almost brand new, save for the dust.

In a moment of desperation, Nora ripped the Pip-Boy from the corpse's arm and pitched it, hitting Kellogg in the back of the head and falling to the floor of the moving platform.

Kellogg grunted and spun around, furious, raising his pistol and leveling it with Nora's head-

"Don't," his assistant advised. "It's better if we leave at least one of the spares alive."

The lights powered on, and an alarm sounded throughout the vault, indicating that the exit was about to open. Just when the platform began to rise, taking Kellogg and Nina away, Nora blundered to her feet again and sprinted down the catwalk, diving onto the platform and landing inches away from Kellogg's feet.

"Stupid bitch," Kellogg spat, kicking her harshly in the stomach. "Don't you know when you've won? I didn't kill you. Now would be the time to walk away and leave well-enough alone."

"My baby..." Nora breathed, glaring up at him. "You took... Nate... and... Nina... away..."

"Boo-hoo," Kellogg mocked. "It's for the greater good. The kid would do much better with us than she ever would with you. Believe me."

As the platform rose further and further, the sunlight began to wash over them all. Nora was fuming, furious with Kellogg and even angrier at herself. She couldn't fight back, couldn't save Nate, couldn't rescue Nina from the kidnapper. She hated feeling so weak, especially when her family was in danger.

"You..." Nora's gaze shifted from Kellogg to the assistant. "You said... I was a spare...?"

"Yes..." the assistant said hesitantly. "I did."

"So... whatever you're using Nina for... you could use me for it too, right?" Nora asked, dizzily reaching her feet. "Then... take me instead."

Kellogg and the assistant traded faces. Nina continued to cry from the assistant's arms.

"The baby is a better option," Kellogg told her. "Cleaner. Less tainted. Perfectly preserved."

"But you can use me too," Nora repeated. "Use me instead. Please... whatever you're doing... leave her out of it. Please, just... use me instead."

Kellogg gave her a long, surveying stare.

The platform came to a stop on the surface, the sun shining brightly over the wasteland, autumn leaves dancing in the wind and landing in piles near the skeletons around the vault's entrance.

Kellogg and the assistant stared at Nora for a moment. Then, Kellogg motioned for the assistant to follow, and they began to walk down the hill.

"Please!" Nora called after them, snatching up the Pip-Boy and preparing to throw it again, though she couldn't find the strength. She was certain that she'd use up all her remaining energy if she tried to toss it a second time; she felt as if her legs would give out any second.

So, Nora continued to follow Kellogg and the assistant at a distance, led by the faint sobs of Nina, not wanting to let the soft cries leave her earshot.

For a while, Kellogg tried to ignore her, but Nora persistently followed, her legs shaky and her heart pounding.

Kellogg and the assistant waltzed into Sanctuary, and Nora didn't bother to take in the ghastly sight of her old neighborhood, now destroyed and sitting in ruin; her focus was on the kidnappers, on her baby daughter.

" _Please_!" Nora pleaded, the Pip-Boy hanging limply from her weak fingers. "Please, just use me instead! _Please_!"

"For fuck's sake, give it up!" Kellogg raised his gun again, thoroughly fed up with the nagging woman.

Nearby, a rusted Mr. Handy suddenly stopped trimming the bushes outside of his house, perking up when he heard a familiar voice.

"As I live and breathe..." Codsworth gasped, his three eyes zeroing in on the scene down the street. It was her; the mother he knew two hundred years ago, the same exact woman with the same motherly voice and the same strawberry blonde hair, having not aged a day.

As Codsworth drifted closer to the altercation, he began to question his own internal clock; it had been two hundred years, hadn't it? How could Nora be here, alive and in the flesh?

Nina's cries echoed through the broken neighborhood, and Codsworth spotted the baby in the arms of a stranger.

"Please..." Nora's eyes welled up, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Please... just leave her alone. Take me instead. Please..."

"We _need_ the baby," Kellogg snarled at her. "We need it a lot more than you do."

"Excuse me," Codsworth interjected. "The 'it' you're referring to isn't a thing. She's a person, a living child... and she isn't _your_ child, you bloody brute. Unhand her, now!"

"Codsworth!" Nora gasped.

Kellogg turned his aim toward Codsworth. "Fuck off, robot. This is none of your business."

"I beg to differ, sir. That's my family you're harassing," Codsworth retorted. "Leave the girl be this instant!"

Nora's eyes darted to the assistant woman, who was holding Nina. The assistant was watching Kellogg and Codsworth, perfectly distracted.

Nora bolted forward, slamming into the assistant and wrapping her arms around Nina, hysterically yanking and jerking the baby away from the stranger. Nora tried to run, now holding Nina tightly against her chest, but her body refused to cooperate; she hit her knees, exhausted.

Just when Kellogg whirled around, Codsworth shot forward, stopping abruptly in front of Nora and scooping Nina out of her arms, cradling her with a single metal arm.

Kellogg fired off a shot; it bounced off of Codsworth's rounded armor, making him float backward several feet and leaving a dent in his exterior.

Codsworth spun his arms, activating his flamethrower and blasting flames in all directions, manifesting a wall of fire between himself and the kidnappers.

"Go, Codsworth!" Nora cried. "Get her away from here!"

Kellogg was enraged; he spun around and kicked Nora in the face, snapping her nose and knocking her onto her back.

" _Ma'am_!" Codsworth shouted.

"Go..." Nora tried to yell, but she couldn't make a sound now. "P... lease..."

Kellogg glanced around, trying to find a quick way around the raging wall of fire, but to no avail. Even angrier now, he fired another shot, this time hitting Nora squarely in the chest. The bullet tore through her, her vault suit staining with blood, and she fell motionless.

" _Jesus_!" Kellogg's assistant shrieked. "Kellogg, for God's sake-!"

Kellogg didn't hear her; he grabbed Nora's body and dragged it away, throwing it down the hill and gesturing for the assistant to follow. He kicked Nora over a ledge of rocks, making her fall helplessly into the creek.

Codsworth didn't stick around to watch; he hid himself in a hurry, keeping a tight hold of Nina as he did.


	2. Sanctuary

_2287, Present Day_

For seventeen years, Codsworth and Nina lived in relative peace.

Sanctuary wasn't a great place, not like it was in its glory days - but it was their home, the only safe haven they had from the hostilities of the Boston wasteland. For numerous decades, Codsworth hated that Sanctuary had been abandoned, leaving him with no one to talk to, no one to serve - but now, the lonely isolation was more of a blessing than a curse. After all, being alone in Sanctuary made it possible for Codsworth to care for Nina without fear of raiders, mutants, ghouls, or any other threats. Over the years, travelers would breeze through town, but they never stayed long. Most people didn't know about Sanctuary, and since it was an empty husk of a neighborhood with nothing of real value to loot, Sanctuary was left to its own devices.

Codsworth and Nina lived in one of the homes at the edge of the culdesac, overlooking the entrance to Sanctuary and the creek that ran under its bridge. The town was surrounded by trees, many of them dead, many others flourishing with life, the leaves fading amber as autumn took over. It was beautiful in a way, and very peaceful compared to most places. Still, Nina grew restless as days passed by, never meeting new people and never leaving home.

Today, she sat on the hillside overlooking the creek, holding a hammer and waiting for the bugs to draw closer. There were three bloodbugs flying around near the water's edge, and Nina cooked a mean bloodbug steak; she hoped she'd be able to catch one today.

Nina hunched in the tall grass, blowing a strand of hair from her face and tightening her grasp on the hammer. If she made a noise, the bugs would come closer to her, and that might make her job easier... but Codsworth always warned her not to get too close to bloodbugs. If they sucked enough of your blood, you might pass out, or even die.

Could she kill them before they sucked her blood? She wasn't sure. Should she risk it?

"I can handle it," she whispered, inching closer to the bugs.

As the bugs buzzed about, Nina drew nearer. She stepped n a twig and snapped it, and instantly, the bloodbugs rounded on her.

All three of them swarmed her, and suddenly in a panic, Nina swung the hammer, smashing one of the bloodbugs and sending it hurtling into the grass.

The remaining two were agitated; Nina swung at them frantically, though she wasn't able to see clearly amidst all the movement.

The closest bloodbug landed on her chest, pressing its needle-like mouth into her throat.

Nina grew faint as the bug drank from her, but after a moment, she snapped back to her senses; she grabbed the bug by its wings and ripped it off of her, tearing the wings off its body.

"Miss Nina!"

Codsworth zoomed out of their house, raising his buzzsaw and slashing at the last bloodbug. He sliced the insect in half.

Nina was still holding the wingless bloodbug, staring at it as it wiggled and squirmed uselessly in her grasp. Codsworth gently plucked the insect from her hands, held it up, and pressed his flamer tool into it, lighting it ablaze and tossing it aside.

"Whew..." Nina breathed, wiping a thick smudge of blood from her neck. "That was close."

"Miss Nina, I've _asked_ you not to go hunting by yourself," Codsworth stated. "It's dangerous."

"It's just bloodbugs," Nina shrugged. "It's not a big deal, Codsy."

"Not a big deal? You've got a gaping hole in your neck."

"I'm fine..."

"You have _got_ to be more careful."

"But I'm fine, Codsy."

Codsworth sighed. "I suppose you are. I just hate to see anything happen to you."

"That's why I have you," Nina smirked, patting his metal head.

Codsworth saluted, adjusting the bowler hat atop his head. Nina found the hat when she was five and put it on him, and he hadn't removed it since.

The two of them gathered the bloodbugs and carried them off to the grill outside of their house, Codsworth lighting the charcoal ablaze and stripping the exoskeletons from the bodies before cooking them.

"Did you make your bed this morning, Miss Nina?" he asked, flipping one of the bloodbug filets.

"Yes..." Nina murmured.

"And you took a bath, yes?"

"Yes..."

"Very good, then."

Nina stood beside him for a moment, simply watching. She considered asking him about the outside world again; many times in the past, she'd ask what the rest of the world was like, if she could travel, if Codsworth would approve of her exploring. But Codsworth repeatedly warned her of the dangers of the outside world, and Nina grew weary of his warnings. He didn't understand how restless she felt. It wasn't for lack of compassion - in truth, Codsworth was as empathetic as he was protective, as his robotic nature didn't get in the way of sentiment - but he simply didn't understand her boredom, her emptiness. She often felt like she ought to be doing something with her life, though she wasn't sure what yet.

"Codsy... I'm gonna go check the water pump," Nina said. "See what it gives me today."

"Very good, Miss. Be careful. Avoid the bridge."

"I know."

Nina wandered down the hill, glimpsing over her shoulder and seeing that Codsworth was focused entirely on his grilling, none of his three eyes following her trail.

She reached the bottom of the hill and rounded the corner, stopping at the bridge and the rusty water pump beside it. Often times, she questioned why they bothered with a water pump when they had a small river right next to their home, but she dismissed the thought and inched closer to the bridge, forgetting her original task.

For many years, the bridge leading out of Sanctuary was intimidating, like a mysterious gateway leading to a dangerous land beyond her home. Now, however, it felt more like a welcoming passage to a new adventure; each day, she felt less and less anxious about the bridge. Codsworth always requested that she never cross it, that anything outside of Sanctuary was a threat... but oddly, now, she couldn't help herself. Her legs carried her over the bridge, the wood creaking beneath her feet. But she wasn't to blame; she didn't choose to cross the bridge. Her legs were moving on their own, entirely without command from her.

When she reached the middle of the bridge, however, a pinch of anxiety returned to her, making her brisk stride halt on a dime; she glanced back at Sanctuary, hoping that Codsworth wouldn't catch her. Should she go back, play it safe?

Or should she press on?

She couldn't live in fear of the unknown forever, that was a fact. Codsworth was her best friend, and she loved him... but Nina wasn't a child anymore. She had to face the world sooner or later.

Gulping and bracing herself, she marched across the rest of the bridge. She wouldn't be gone long; she'd look around and observe the environment around Sanctuary, then she'd go back and collect water from the pump. Codsworth would never know she left.

When she tried to follow the road, she stopped dead, swallowing a gasp. A few feet away were two corpses; a dead man in a trench coat and a dead, emaciated dog with a tire iron lodged in its ribcage.

For a full minute, Nina simply stared at them. Then, when the smell slithered up her nose, she snapped back to reality and covered her face with one hand, trying not to gag.

Nina almost walked past them, but then remembered what Codsworth taught her from an early age; always hold onto anything useful. Growing up, Nina taught herself how to pick locks and scavenge for useful materials throughout Sanctuary. Perhaps this dead man had something useful on his person.

So, Nina knelt and hesitantly slid her hands into each of his pockets, finding a small sock full of bottle caps and a handful of loose bullets. Holding her breath, she flipped the corpse over, seeing that he had a 10mm pistol on his hip.

She carefully removed the gun and holster from the man, fastening the belt around herself. After checking the clip in the gun, she slipped it back into its holster, which now sat on her hip.

Nina gave the man a brief, sad stare before pressing onward, toward a building just a bit further down the street. It was a gas station, or perhaps a diner, with an open garage and a restaurant area, and the top was decorated with a huge red rocket.

"Whoa... what _is_ this place?" Nina whispered, fascinated. "What's it for?"

Compared to everything she'd read in magazines and comic books, the gas station wasn't especially impressive... but now, she was facing a real place, not a picture in a book. It was the first building she'd seen up close apart from one of the shambled Sanctuary homes. She was almost tempted to find a way to climb it; growing up alone in Sanctuary, she never had anyone to play with, so she amused herself by climbing and jumping from structure to structure. Parkour was a fun game in itself, even if you had no one to do it with.

Not thinking, Nina inched closer to the place, grinning and wondering what the dangling hose was for. Perhaps those old-world machines people once drove around in? That must've been it.

As she stepped into the parking lot, she caught a glint of movement out of the corner of her eye. Nina froze, staring at the door hanging ajar; a creature galloped out, darting toward her and barking playfully.

The dog stumbled to a stop at her feet, holding a tattered and drool-ridden teddy bear in its mouth. It was a fully-grown German Shepherd.

"Um..." Nina stuttered, holding out a hand. "Are you... friendly?"

The dog barked happily and rubbed his face into her palm. Nina pet him, relieved to find that he was tame. She felt a leather collar on his neck.

"You lose your owner?" Nina asked.

The dog licked her hand, leaving no inch of her skin dry.

"Okay... you wanna stay with me?" Nina smiled.

The dog barked again, jumping in place and spinning around, darting around the parking lot.

For a little while, Nina enjoyed herself by dangling the destroyed teddy bear and running around as the dog chased her and tackled her, overjoyed to play tug-of-war with the mutilated toy. After fifteen minutes of playing, Nina giggled, pushing the dog off her and wiping a streak of dog saliva off her cheek.

She reared around, glimpsing at the bridge and feeling a stab of guilt. How long had she been gone? Codsworth might've noticed her disappearance by now. She didn't want to go back yet, but she didn't want to worry him either.

"Okay... five more minutes," Nina decided, scratching behind the dog's ears. "We can play for five more minutes, then I have to go back home. Kay? You can come with me, if you want."

The dog placed its front paws on her chest, jumping on top of her again and ambushing her with his flat, sloppy tongue.

Just when Nina was about to entice the dog into another game of tug-of-war, a noise in the distance caught her attention.

It sounded far away, but not incredibly far. Distant, but within walking distance. Then, it happened again. Soon, the atmosphere was filled with the sounds, the ambient _bangs_ and _pops_.

 _Gunshots._

"What's...?" Nina reached her feet, her feelings of joy and excitement quickly morphing into anxiousness and worry.

She listened to the noise for a moment. The dog whimpered warily, flattening its ears and growling at the general direction of the noises.

Nina stared down the hill beside the Red Rocket Station. Close by was a collection of buildings, different from both the gas station and the Sanctuary homes; it was a conglomeration of buildings, a town. She hadn't noticed it until now. It was the source of the noise.

Everything in her mind was screaming at her, commanding her to go back, to take the dog to Sanctuary and lay low from the danger. Still, strangely enough, she marched down the hill and approached the sound of the conflict, stealthily creeping her way into Concord.

The dog followed along behind her. Nina stopped behind the nearest building, peeking around the corner and surveying the situation; on the main street, people were trading gunfire, many of them wearing strange leather and metal hunks of armor. They all seemed to be focused on the building at the end of the street, the museum. There were a few corpses lying around the museum's entrance, and on the third floor, Nina was able to see a man in uniform standing on the balcony, hunching for cover and returning fire to the raiders.

 _He's cornered_ , Nina figured. _He's cornered, and his friends are dying_.

Then, something happened that made her heart skip a beat; the man on the balcony shot a beam of red light, hitting a raider squarely in the chest and sending him flying backward. The dead raider landed feet away from Nina and the dog.

Nina's hands clamped over her mouth, her eyes lost in the fresh corpse. After a moment of shock, she shook off the feeling and grabbed the arm of the dead body, sneakily sliding him behind the building so she could search him properly. Again, she felt a wave of nausea overcome her, but she held her breath and sifted through the raider's pockets, finding a handful of bullets and a single stimpack.

Nina gulped, leaning around the corner again and watching as the man in the balcony continued to kill the raiders one by one. For a one-man army facing bad odds, he was doing quite well. Still, many people wearing similar uniforms were lying dead in the street, and Nina could only assume that he was the last man standing. It was only a matter of time before these raiders got the upper hand against him.

What could she do? She'd killed countless creatures in the past, but never a person. She had a gun now; would she have the nerve to fight? She wasn't sure.

Gulping and forcing herself into an artificial composure, Nina gripped her pistol tightly and slipped around the corner, carefully approaching the situation. Luckily, most of the raiders nearest to her had fallen already, but the ones outside of the museum were still firing haphazardly up at the balcony.

Summoning a nerve she never had before, Nina aligned the sights with the head of the closest raider. With the single pull of a trigger, the man's head exploded into flesh and bone fragments, dead before he hit the ground.

The others spun around, startled and furious.

Nina's heart jumped; she darted across the street and vaulted over a fence in the alleyway, circling around the building and approaching once more. The dog ran into the fight as well; the raiders took shots at the dog, effectively distracting them from Nina.

She fired a second time, and another raider bit the dust.

Her stomach churned; Nina wanted desperately to vomit, but she forced the feeling down and carried on. Now wasn't the time.

Some of the raiders scattered and hid, fearing that Nina and the dog were the beginning of an ambush, but one of them remained in front of the museum's entrance. Just when Nina was about to take another fateful shot, the dog pummeled into the raider and sank his fangs into the man's neck, tearing a chunk from his throat and knocking him to the cement. The raider's head bashed against the concrete stoop of the museum, and then, he went motionless.

Nina heaved a few heavy breaths, suddenly convinced that she was dreaming. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Would she wake up from this soon, greeted by Codsworth delivering her breakfast and requesting that she make her bed?

"I..." Nina breathed, her eyes scanning over the nearby corpses and concluding that she was not, in fact, lost to a dream. "I... I did it. I knew I could do it..."

"Hey!" the man screamed from the balcony, waving frantically at her. "We're cornered up here! There's only five of us left! Grab that laser musket and help us! Please!"

Nina blinked up at him, then looked down and spotted one of the large, strange guns lying beside one of the Minutemen's corpses. Part of her wanted to turn back, to return to the safety of her old, sheltered life... but another part of her, a part that she never knew existed, insisted that she press on.

* * *

"Mu'm?"

Codsworth hovered around the water pump, his eyes double and triple-examining the environment. Apart from the radroaches in one of the houses, he didn't sense any other lifeforms. Usually, he'd find Nina by feeling that familiar blip of warm energy, usually either climbing trees or scavenging in one of the homes. Now, however, he felt nothing no matter how many times he activated his sensors.

He floated up toward the pathway to the vault, but still, he sensed nothing. He checked the water's edge along the creek, yet still, he didn't find her.

He stopped at the bridge, a spark of worry rising in his nuclear core.

Codsworth hovered over the bridge, paying no mind to the corpses of the man and the dog. He stopped at Red Rocket and ran his scanners again, but his sensors found nothing.

"Where on earth could she...?"

He heard the firefight from Concord, perking up and focusing his mechanical eyes on the town. The gunshots rang through the air, as well as the blasting noise from the balcony man's laser musket.

Codsworth felt a rush of concern. "Oh dear..."

He entered Concord in a hurry.


	3. Flower in Bloom

Nina gulped and pushed the double doors open, taken back by the magnificent sight; it was the biggest building she'd ever been in, decorated with numerous paintings and flags from old America. The building was falling apart in many places, parts of it totally collapsed and lying as mountains of rubble. In the middle - the section which was mostly collapsed - there were makeshift bridges and ledges fashioned from wood and other random debris.

Nina blinked, spotting a raider on the nearest ledge. The raider spun around and raised his gun, firing off a shot and blasting a hole in the wall inches away from her head.

Nina let out a frightened squeak, bolting away and diving into the hallway on her right, her heart thrashing behind her ribs. She took a moment to gather herself, then reached her feet and entered the large room around the corner. It was full of mannequins dressed in red and blue overcoats, seemingly reenacting a war from hundreds of years prior. She moved around the fake people and poked her head into the next room, which was occupied by two raiders.

She tried to fire, but the laser musket wouldn't shoot. Just then, the dog darted under her legs and dove at the raider near the door, his jaw clamping around the man's arm. The raider fell to his back, screaming as blood squirmed from his arm. Nina took the opportunity to fire a few shots from her pistol rather than the musket, hitting the other raider and making him collapse in the doorway of the back hall.

Nina paused, thinking of Sanctuary again and wondering how she ended up here, so suddenly, so unexpectedly. This morning, she was lost to her usual routine, making her bed, taking a bath, and preparing to help Codsworth with the daily chores. Now, here she was, in a strange town fighting and killing people for the first time...

Shaking the thought away, she stepped over the body in the doorway and squeezed through the back hall, the dog galloping along behind her. She stepped into a clearing at the back of the building, where the second floor had collapsed halfway, creating something of a bridge to the floor above. At the bottom was a fenced-off area and a number of large machines, but she paid it little mind; her eyes were fixed upward. The man in the balcony couldn't be far.

Just when Nina began walking up the collapsed floor, a raider appeared suddenly behind a nearby pillar, startling her; he swung a pool cue, bashing her in the head and knocking her down the crooked walkway.

Nina fumbled and flipped all the way down, her elbow smashing into the keyboard of a terminal on the wall. The dog barked angrily, jumping on the raider and digging his teeth into his throat.

Nina blinked herself fully conscious, a splitting pain erupting in her skull and her elbow pulsating. She heard a faint _ding_ , and then, the metal door behind her began to open.

The dog pranced away from his latest kill, joining by her side again. Nina rubbed her head, staring at the magic door and wondering how and why it opened. Perhaps it was the terminal; her arm hit the keyboard, and somehow, it triggered a mechanism that opened the fenced-off area.

Nina's curiosity got the better of her; she spared a moment to inspect the secretive room, though she didn't see anything valuable. The only lootable item was a large, cylindrical battery-like device wedged in the center of one of the machines. She didn't know what it was, but it might've been valuable. She yanked the mysterious item from the machine and pocketed it. The machine flickered off and powered down, and Nina marched up the walkway, ready to return to her original task-

"YOU'RE DEAD YOU LITTLE BITCH!"

Two raiders flooded down the walkway, one of them raising a gun, the other holding a nail-covered bat.

Nina's heart jumped into her throat; she leaped backward on instinct, falling down the walkway a second time. She slammed into the fence at the bottom, shielding herself and bracing herself for the pain to come.

"Not so fast, you psychopaths!"

Nina's eyes snapped shut as she sat curled against the fence, expecting to feel the impact of a bullet or a sharp, blunt flog from the spiny bat. But she felt nothing; a familiar voice entered the scene, followed by a loud _wooosh-_ ing noise she'd heard somewhere before.

Nina summoned the strength to open her eyes, seeing Codsworth floating in front of her, shooting a massive blast of fire at the attackers. The raiders bellowed screams of agony, flailing and thrashing as the flames consumed them from head to tow. Moments later, the two men fell to the floor in ashy, fleshy lumps.

There was a pause.

Codsworth whirled around, and Nina bit her lip, feeling a barrage of conflicting emotions; the fear she had for her life dissipated, and now, she felt worried, afraid of whatever scolding he would give her. She couldn't believe he'd followed her all the way here...

But Codsworth didn't berate her; he simply scanned over her, priming his sensors to spot any and all injuries. Apart from a bump to the head and her bloodbug wound from earlier, she seemed mostly unharmed.

"Sorry..." Nina said weakly. "I'm sorry... it's... there's someone here, and he needs help... I had to..."

"Mu'm," Codsworth said, a sternness in his voice, but also a note of relief. "If you wanted to leave, you should have told me."

"I've tried, Codsy... but you never let me leave before," Nina replied. "Why would this time be different?"

"You misunderstood," Codsworth told her. "I strongly advised you not to go, but I've never ordered you to stay. I'm not your father, Miss Nina, I'm your humble butler. Yet I still feel the need to remind you... you can _not_ leave Sanctuary by yourself. And that's not an order; it's a promise. You're free to leave or stay, whichever you like, but you'll not be going anywhere alone. Not as long as I'm alive. It's simply not safe out here. You've seen enough to understand that now, haven't you?"

"Yeah, but..." Nina glimpsed around cautiously, hoping that all the raiders nearby were out for the count. "There's someone here... and he needs help. What was I supposed to do? I couldn't just leave him to die..."

"And I commend you for that, Mu'm." Codsworth's voice softened. "If you want to travel somewhere, that's perfectly fine... but you can't go it alone."

"You're not mad at me...?"

"Of course not. It's commendable to help someone in their hour of need - but it's downright reckless to dive into a firefight alone. Surely we can agree on that."

"Yeah, you're right..."

Nina flashed a timid smile. He was right; she felt a thousand times safer now that Codsworth was by her side. Their odds were much better if they stayed together.

"Now then," Codsworth said conclusively. "Now that I know you're safe, let's address the other matter. Where is the gentleman who's trapped here?"

"Um... upstairs somewhere," Nina replied vaguely. "I saw him on the balcony."

"He'll be on the third floor then, I'd wager. Right then. Off we go." He motioned for her to follow. "Stay alert, Mu'm. I'll stay in front. A bullet would hurt you much more than me."

Nina, Codsworth, and the dog ventured up the collapsed floor and found the closest hallway, reaching a stairway and climbing to the third floor. Sure enough, the remaining raiders in the building were waiting for them; Nine shuffled to the side and aligned her gun while Codsworth willingly stole all the raiders' attention, blasting them with fire as Nina emptied her clip into them.

"No challenge," Codsworth said. "They're sloppy at best, these people. Quite easy to beat in combat. I'm thankful you didn't run across any professional killers out here..."

Nina silently agreed with him.

The three of them moved down the hall, and at the end, a door stood open, and a dark-skinned man with a laser musket gestured for them to approach.

Nina, Codsworth, and the dog quickly entered the room and shut the door behind them.

The dark-skinned man was most assuredly the same person Nina saw in the balcony; he wore a hat with a bent rim and an overcoat that made him look like some sort of militaristic leader. To Nina's surprise, he wasn't the only trapped survivor; there were four others, a man and a woman of oriental descent, an old woman wearing a wide variety of tacky jewelry, and a dark-haired man with goggles around his neck. The older woman was sitting on a couch, the married couple were at the other end of the room (the man sitting in the corner while the woman paced, a constant scowl on her face), and the goggled man was hunched beside a terminal.

The dark-skinned balcony man was definitely the leader, Nina figured. He was armed better than the others, and he had the uniform of a leader.

"I can't believe you got through all that," the balcony man said.

"Me either," Nina replied honestly. "I've never done anything like that before."

"Well... I'm grateful for the help, believe me." He held out his hand. "Preston Garvey. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Nina, and this is Codsworth. Nice to meet you too."

"This is Sturges, Mama Murphy, and the Longs, Marcy and Jun." Preston pointed to each of his friends as he introduced them. "We're the Minutemen... what's left of them."

Nina blinked. "Left of them?"

"It's a long story," Preston said grimly. "The Minutemen fell apart before, but now... we've lost nearly everyone. We came here looking for a place to settle down, but I guess these raiders had the same idea. Most of the guys in here are dead, thanks to you... but there are still plenty of them lingering around outside."

"The Minutemen?" Codsworth asked interestedly. "Am I malfunctioning, or have we slipped into the ghost of America's past?"

"We're the new Minutemen of the new age," Preston told him. "At least... we were. Looks like it might end here."

"Don't you have a plan?" Nina asked him. "Haven't you thought of a way to get out?"

"Well... we have one idea," Sturges chimed in. "There's a crashed vertibird on the roof, and there's a decent set of power armor inside, but it needs a fusion core to power it. If we could get our hands on a fusion core, one of us could jump in that power suit and rip the machinegun right off the vertibird. Then we'd give those raiders a run for their money."

"Problem is, we don't have a fusion core, and we don't have any way to get one," Preston added. "This place has power, so there might be a fusion core in the generators here, but..."

Nina cocked her head, remembering the strange item she pulled from the machine downstairs. She reached into her pocket and showed them the glowing blue device. "This thingy?"

Preston's eyes widened.

Everyone stared at her, their mouths hanging agape.

Nina gulped. "Wh-what?"

"That's it," Preston breathed. "That's the fusion core. That's exactly what we need."

"Really?" Nina twirled the device around and examined it. "I just grabbed it on a whim. I thought it might be worth something."

"It _is_ worth something," Sturges told her. "You can get a pretty penny for one of those. And it's exactly what we need to get out of here. Now we just have to decide which one of us is gonna jump into that power armor. I'm no fighter, I'm a mechanic..."

"I wouldn't last in a fight..." Jun murmured softly, hanging his head.

His wife, Marcy, smacked him on the shoulder. "Would you at least _try_ to be a man once in a while?"

Jun didn't reply to her.

It was obvious that Mama Murphy couldn't do the task. So, everyone's eyes drifted to Preston and Nina.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment.

"Okay," Nina shrugged. "I guess I'll do it."

"Really, M'um?" Codsworth asked. "Are you sure? You've held up well so far, but... now you're talking about using a complicated set of power armor and wielding a gun twice your size. Are you sure you're up for that?"

"Sure, I'll give it a shot," Nina replied nonchalantly. "I mean, I'll have power armor on, right? It'll be safer than fighting without wearing any protection again."

Codsworth hesitated. He remembered the day Nora returned to Sanctuary as clear as day; he'd never forget how close newborn Nina came to death or kidnapping that day. That stranger and his assistant wanted her for some reason, and they were willing to kill her own mother to abscond with her. That was the sort of danger Codsworth worked so hard to protect her from these seventeen years... but now, it seemed he couldn't keep her from the world any longer.

"I... suppose so," Codsworth reluctantly agreed.

"Are you sure about this?" Preston asked her seriously. "You don't have to go. I'll do it."

Nina thought on this, wondering why she volunteered herself for the task. Then, she looked to the others and found her answer; the Longs, Sturges, and Mama Murphy all seemed to look to Preston for leadership and guidance. If he risked himself in battle and died out there, these people would be left without their leader.

"I'm sure," Nina decided, ignoring the sudden surge of nervousness that crawled up her spine.

"Well... take a minute to recompose," Preston advised, pointing to the door on the opposite side of the room. "That door leads to the roof. Take a minute to breathe, and whenever you're ready, go grab the power armor and the minigun, and we'll be covering you from behind. All right?"

Nina nodded and meandered across the room, stopping in front of the couch. Mama Murphy was sitting there, striking the dog behind the ears.

"So... you're the one Dogmeat brought to us," Mama Murphy murmured thoughtfully. "He sure knows how to choose his friends..."

"Oh, he's your dog?" Nina asked.

"Nah... he ain't my dog," she replied. "Dogmeat... he's a free spirit. You can't own a spirit like his. But he chooses his friends well... and he'll stick by your side now. I _saw_ it."

Nina blinked at her. Mama Murphy had a strange look in her eyes, almost as if she knew more than she ever let on, but Nina dismissed the suspicion and headed out the door, Codsworth and Dogmeat following along behind her.

Nina examined the power armor outside, shivering as an overcast swept over Concord. The armor was as thick as it was heavy, and Nina doubted she'd be able to move at all once she was inside the thing.

"I believe it's programmed to carry its own weight, M'um," Codsworth said. "Not to worry. You'll be able to move around just fine. It's the battle I'm worried about..."

Nina searched around until she found the round port on the back, shoving the fusion core inside and powering the suit on. The suit opened up from the back, allowing her to leap inside, and the suit sealed her in like a protective shell. Nina peered out at the world through the helmet, through something like a tiny windshield. It began to sprinkle outside, and she felt thunder shake the building beneath her.

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Codsworth asked.

"Yeah," Nina confirmed. "Let's do it."

Trying to adjust to the weight of the armor, Nina lumbered over to the crashed vertibird and took a firm grip of the minigun on the side, ripping it from the aircraft in one swift motion. Hulking around in a massive set of armor and carrying a gigantic gun was incredibly uncomfortable; Nina was fast and agile, taking great pride in her speed and her talent for parkour. Now, she felt like a ten-ton tank, unable to run or jump or climb; it was the opposite of her usual style, but she hoped she'd manage.

For a moment, Nina had trouble figuring out where she was; her vision was limited, and she spun around, trying to find her way back to the door-

 _"M'um!"_

Her foot slipped.

Suddenly, Nina found herself falling for what felt like miles. Instantly, her body crashed into concrete; her eyes snapped shut, and she braced herself for the pain, but astonishingly, the fall didn't injure her. The power armor absorbed the momentum of the fall.

Completely disoriented, Nina found her footing and pushed herself upright, grabbing the minigun and heading into town. The remaining raiders in Concord had flooded the streets, trading fire with the Minutemen in the balcony of the museum. Nina lifted the minigun and opened fire, the recoil jerking and shaking her arms.

Between her spitfire and Preston's blasting laser musket, the raiders began to fall like dominoes.

Codsworth and Dogmeat quickly made their way out of the building, rushing to Nina's side, though the battle was going well so far. From the looks of it, the town would be cleaned of raiders within seconds-

BANG.

Nina froze in her step just when the last raider fell to the pavement. She heard something, the sound of metal clunking around.

BANG.

Nina's eyes shot over to the sewer, seeing that the lid was being knocked to the side. Seconds later, the pavement around the lid crumbled, and a massive, scaly hand reached out, claws scratching against the cement as the creature lifted itself out of the sewer.

Suddenly, reality caught up with her, and Nina instantly regretted taking on this dangerous task; an enormous, dinosaur-like monster crawled from the sewer, its white, soulless eyes zeroing in on her.

"Oh dear," Codsworth stammered. "M'um, I-I'd advise you to move away now... seriously, M'um, move away from the sewer!"

Nina stood rooted to the spot, her mouth hanging agape. The deathclaw let out a bellowing roar, and at once, Nina remembered how to walk and scurried backward as quickly as the bulky armor would allow her. She sent a barrage of bullets toward the creature, but the deathclaw hardly seemed to feel the bullets' impact. The deathclaw staggered in its step, then began stomping toward her.

Nina scrambled to formulate a plan; her eyes darted around, searching for an answer in her environment. Then, she fixated on a broken pre-war pickup truck sitting idle in the road, right beside the deathclaw. If the magazines she grew up reading were truthful, those cars were equipped with a nuclear core, similar to Codsworth's, only much more powerful.

Nina aimed at the truck and opened fire, and just as she planned, the truck combusted. She inched closer and closer.

"M'um!" Codsworth warned. "Back away!"

The deathclaw dove at her, tackling her to the ground and digging its claws into her stomach. If not for the armor, she'd be dead. She lay on her back as the deathclaw roared menacingly in her face, but she heard the truck nearby popping and sparking, and that was her intention.

Praying that the armor would save her from her maniac plan, she shut her eyes and prepared for it; the truck exploded in a magnificent rage of fiery debris, and the deathclaw flew to the side, shrieking in agony as a chunk of metal struck its neck. The deathclaw's throat squirted a downpour of blood as the creature howled and roared, and seconds later, it fell to the pavement, motionless.

Concord fell silent, and Nina remained laying on her back for a moment, releasing a cloud of breath and regaining her composure. She survived. Thank God...

"M'um?" Codsworth tapped worriedly on her helmet. "Are you all right?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Nina replied breathlessly, her hands shaking beneath the metal gloves.

"My _word_ , that was lucky," Codsworth gasped, one of his eyes glimpsing at the dead deathclaw.

"I figured the explosion would kill it if I couldn't," Nina synopsized, awkwardly reaching her feet. "God, I hate this. Remind me to never use power armor again."

"Might I say, M'um, you did exceptionally well," Codsworth told her. "I'm pleasantly surprised. You're quite skilled in a pinch."

Nina smiled, wanting to pat him as she often did, but she feared that her armor might knock him several feet back if she dared touch him.

The three of them headed back to the museum. When they stepped inside, Preston and his friends had ventured down to the first floor. Nina deactivated her power armor and stepped out of it, approaching them.

"That was... a pretty amazing display," Preston told her. "Glad you're on our side."

"So what now?" Nina asked.

"Now... we head to the place Mama Murphy's been talking about," Preston replied. "A place called Sanctuary. Hopefully, we'll get our lucky break there. We can make a new start."

Nina and Codsworth traded glimpses.

"Jesus, Preston," Marcy griped. "You're still clinging to that stupid Sanctuary idea? Based on Mama Murphy's drugged-out hallucinations? How stupid are you? This place probably doesn't exist, and you know it."

"It _does_ exist," Nina snapped at her. "It's my home."

Everyone paused, eyeing Nina.

"So... it's real," Preston said, a note of relief in his tone. "We haven't been chasing ghosts. That's... great news. But... if that place belongs to you, then... I have to ask. Are we welcome there? What's the community like? Do they welcome newcomers?"

Nina was about to reply, but Mama Murphy beat her to it.

"It's empty," Mama Murphy said. "I saw it... the Sanctuary is empty, except for the timeless robot and the girl out of time. Nina and Codsworth are the only ones who live there... since her parents two hundred and ten years ago."

Nina stared at her.

Codsworth felt a nervous spark in his core; he never told Nina the whole truth about her parents, that they were born centuries ago, that a stranger tried to kidnap her and killed her parents in the process. Nina knew that her parents died when she was a baby, but apart from that single vague fact, she knew nothing else.

"What do you mean, out of time?" Nina asked. "Two hundred years ago? What're you talking about? Were my parents ghouls or something?"

"Not ghouls, no... but your mother lost her humanity," Mama Murphy responded. "And your father... frozen in death forever. I saw... the man who tried to steal you from your mother. He's still out there, kid... and he's still looking."

Nina opened her mouth, but this time, Codsworth was the one who replied.

"Still out there?" Codsworth muttered. "And still looking? For Nina? Why? Why does he want her?"

"I don't know, Cods... I just don't know," Mama Murphy said, shaking her head. "It's all foggy... maybe if you bring me some jet, I could see a little more..."

"No, Mama Murphy," Preston chimed in. "That stuff's gonna kill you-"

"What do you know about me?" Nina inquired, rounding on Mama Murphy. "Are you saying someone tried to kidnap me? Why?"

"I don't know... but it can only be you," Mama Murphy told her. "No one else will do, kid. It has to be you... and he's not gonna stop looking for you, never. There's a chain, kid... a long chain of misfits and events that might stop him... but you have to follow your destiny to make that happen. Follow your path... to the green jewel. That's where it begins. Diamond City."

Nina wanted to ask more, but Preston and the others were already gathering their belongings and preparing to leave Concord. Mama Murphy stood and followed Preston to the door. Preston stopped, facing Nina again.

"We could really use your help," Preston said, digging a handful of caps from his pocket and placing them in her hands. "We could all help each other. That is... if you're okay with sharing your home with us."

Nina stared at the back of Mama Murphy's head for a moment, her mind racing, mulling over everything the old woman said. After a moment, she met Preston's gaze again and gave him a nod.

"Okay. Let's go."


End file.
